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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

Demonstratives

The demonstrative adjectives questo and quello


correspond to this and that, respectively. They agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Questo has four forms, but may be abbreviated to quest before a singular noun or adjective that begins with a vowel. Quello, like the definite article, has seven forms.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives


fem./sing. masc./pl. fem./pl.

masc./sing

questo poliziotto
questanno

questa farmacia
questamica

questi quartieri

queste macchine

masc./sing.
quel segnale quellautista quello stadio

fem./sing.
quella citt quelledicola quella strada

masc./pl.
quei tribunali quegli angoli quegli zii

fem./pl.
quelle cose quelle amiche quelle banche

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

ATTENZIONE!
Note that quello follows the pattern of the definite article when used before a noun.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

ATTENZIONE!
San (Saint) is used for masculine names beginning with a consonant, santo is used for s + cons., sant for names beginning with a vowel and santa for feminine names beginning with a consonant.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

Questo and quello may also be used as demonstrative


pronouns. Used as a pronoun, each has only four forms ending in o, a, i, or e.
Non mi piace quellappartamento in via Roma; preferisco questo. I dont like that apartment on via Roma; I prefer this one.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

ATTENZIONE!
All adjectives are placed after the noun when modified by molto or another adverb. Mario un bel ragazzo. Mario is a handsome boy. Mario un ragazzo molto bello. Mario is a really handsome boy.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

Position of adjectives

Most adjectives follow the nouns they modify. There are,


however, a dozen or so common adjectives that usually precede the noun. They are typically adjectives of beauty, age, quality, or size, but you must memorize them to avoid making mistakes. Some of them are bello, bravo, brutto, buono, cattivo, nuovo, vecchio, piccolo, and grande.
La Fiat 500 una piccola macchina. The Fiat 500 is a little car.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

Some adjectives change meaning depending on whether


they are placed before or after the noun they modify.
caro un caro amico un quaderno caro a dear friend an expensive notebook

povero
vecchio

un povero ragazzo un ragazzo povero


una vecchia amica unamica vecchia

a poor (unfortunate) boy a poor (penniless) boy


an old (longtime) friend an old (elderly) friend

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

ATTENZIONE!
The singular forms of buono are: The forms of bello are: il bel paese il bello stadio il bellappartamento la bella villa i begli occhi le belle strade i bei giardini

un buono stadio un buon libro una buona ragione una buonamica

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

The singular form of buono follows the pattern of the


indefinite article when it precedes a noun. Bello, like quello, follows the pattern of the definite article when used before a noun.

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Demonstratives; position of adjectives

Grande may be shortened to gran in front of masculine


or feminine nouns beginning with a consonant (except s + consonant, z or ps). Before words beginning with a vowel, it may be shortened to grand.

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